Great Debate: Toughest team for Bruins to beat in Atlantic?

Every Friday, a rotating group of NEHJ staff members will share
their take on one hot topic in the hockey world. Here’s this
week's Great Debate.

The setup:The Northeast
Division is no more thanks to the NHL's realignment. Boston will
still be battling for supremacy against the Sabres, Canadiens,
Senators and Maple Leafs, but now you can add the Lightning,
Panthers and Red Wings to the list of foes they'll be looking to
climb over in the standings.

The question: Which team is the biggest threat to beat the
Bruins out for the Atlantic Division title in 2013-14?

Here's something scary that you may or may not remember
from last season: the Montreal Canadiens owned the Boston Bruins so
much that they stole the division away from them. Now, it's
understandable to debate that the Habs flamed out in the first
round of the playoffs, but with such a young roster of
inexperienced players, it was sort of expected. This year, the
Canadiens have potential to not only be a threat to the Bruins'
chances of winning the Atlantic Division, but they have a chance to
do something in the postseason, too.

The Canadiens' young, offensive core of David Desharnais,
Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher will continue to
improve, Max Pacioretty could become a top-25 scorer in the NHL and
the veteran leadership from guys like Brian Gionta and Tomas
Plekanec will certainly get a boost with the addition of Daniel
Briere. Their defense, led by P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov, is
solid and Carey Price in goal makes them an annual contender. So
while the Bruins could very well top the Atlantic Division this
season, it's important to remember that they have to go through the
reigning champions first.

From before the season even got underway, everything seemed to
be working against the Detroit Red Wings in 2013. Captain and
perennial Norris Trophy candidate Nick Lidstrom retired.
Acquisitions failed to live up to expectations. A veteran squad
proved quite injury-prone during a compressed, post-lockout
schedule.

Despite all that, the Wings managed to do what they've done
every season since 1990, qualifying for the playoffs where they
came within a goal of reaching the conference finals. With a team
that's greatly retooled on paper -- having added
aging-but-still-potent winger Daniel Alfredsson and upgraded their
second-line center spot with former Panther Stephen Weiss -- and
youngsters such as Dan DeKeyser, Joakim Andersson and former Maine
standout Gustav Nyquist coming into their own, Detroit will be
tough to top. Add in the fact that goalie Jimmy Howard, another
former Black Bear, is 15-2-0 lifetime against his new divisional
opponents and I'm starting to think I'd be foolish to not put money
down on Motown winning the Atlantic Division crown.

My favorite band, the Barenaked Ladies, have a song called
"Everything Old is New Again." That's how I'm feeling right now,
because I think what we're going to see in the new-look Atlantic
this season is a continuation of what we saw last year, which is
the resurgence of the Boston-Montreal rivalry. Historically,
hockey's version of the Old Firm has ebbed and flowed, at times
dormant and at times red-hot.

The Bruins have been one of the best franchises in the
league for the last half-dozen years, but it's taken a little while
for the Canadiens to catch up. I think this year, the Habs are
ready to contend again, and with some interesting additions
(chiefly Danny Briere) and no key losses, the rebounding ability
they've shown since finishing dead last in 2011-12 ought to only
improve. Games between Boston and Montreal are always edgy because
of pride and history. Now, an Atlantic Division title should be on
the line, too.

Despite long-term injuries to nearly all of the team's key
players, including superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson, top-line
center Jason Spezza and starting goaltender Craig Anderson, the
Ottawa Senators still found a way to make it into the postseason
last year. Once there, they quickly dispatched division rival
Montreal in the opening round of the playoffs before putting up a
valiant effort in defeat against the loaded lineup of the
Penguins.

On July
5, after long-time captain Daniel Alfredsson decided
he'd have a better shot at capturing the Stanley Cup in Detroit
than he would in Ottawa (though I'd firmly argue the opposite). The
Senators were left with a gaping hole at right wing. GM Bryan
Murray wasted little time in finding a solution to that problem,
landing dynamic power-forward Bobby Ryan in a trade with Anaheim
later that afternoon. With their new-found, and extraordinarily
lethal, top-line scoring duo of Ryan and Spezza, along with some
solid depth and recent playoff experience, the Sens appear to be in
prime position for a breakout season in 2013-14.

Every time you're ready to stick a fork in 'em, the
Detroit Red Wings manage to come back like a B-movie villain that
just won't die. When it comes to pure talent and experience, they
don't come much better on paper than the Motor City Machine, who
added Daniel Alfredsson and Stephen Weiss to complement the aging
but still lethal scoring core of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik
Zetterberg.

The Wings also have workhorse Jimmy Howard in place, and
their defense, while not made up of a lot of household names, is
mobile and savvy. Maybe Detroit gets too much credit for their past
glories of four Stanley Cups (in five appearances) between
1997-2009, but with a more favorable travel schedule in the East
and some new blood (Weiss staying healthy will be key), this is a
team that could leverage the talent and battle-tested players on
the roster to make things interesting in the Atlantic
Division.